S. Ross Browne

Slideshow Back to Artists

S. Ross Browne studied Communication Art and Design at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, VA and Photography at The Corcoran School of the Arts in Washington, DC. He is also an alumnus of The Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Browne is a professional studio artist with over 23 years experience. With an emphasis on painting, he has exhibited domestically and internationally in over 70 gallery and museum exhibitions and is in multifarious private and public collections including the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He has been the subject of print and video media from various news outlets including Style weekly, Baltimore Style, WCVE/Virginia Currents, MSNBC’s The Griot, The Huffington Post, The Washingtonian, Ebony, Richmond Times Dispatch, Richmond Free Press, The Washington Post, The International Review of African American Art, Grid Magazine, WTVR/CBS, Harlem Interviews, Urban Views Magazine and the Tom Joyner Foundation.

As an educator Ross was the Art Specialist for the VCU Health System where he practiced art therapy for and taught art to his various patients with an emphasis on pediatric hematology/oncology, infectious disease, brain injury and elder care. He was also an art educator for various support groups including Living Well for pediatric cancer support and the Richmond Brain Tumor Support Group.
Browne was also an instructor for the Resident Associate Program at the The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. and has taught art and design for inner city and at risk youth for the Fresh Air Fund of New York City, Weed and Seed, Project Ready and Art 180 of Richmond, VA.

His most recent adjudication was for the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers: Scholastic Art Awards.
As an illustrator his work has graced book covers from St. Martin’s Press and he has been a featured artist on the Directory of Illustration website and publication.

Browne, a recipient of numerous awards and honors, paints and writes out of his studio in Richmond, Virginia.

Lives and works in Richmond, VA

Education

2007
Society for the Arts in Healthcare, Chicago, IL, Nashville, TN

1991
Communication Art and Design, School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

1984
Photography, Corcoran School of the Arts, Washington, DC

1987
The Miller School of Albemarle, Charlottesville, VA

Select Solo Exhibitions

2011
Petersburg Area Art League, PAAL Gallery, Petersburg, VA

Select Group Exhibitions

2017
Links Charity Auction, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Caribbean Fine Art Fair, Grand Salle Gallery & Annex, Bridgetown, Barbados

2016
July Library Gallery group exhibition, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Art, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Current Art Fair, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
SWELTER, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
CULTURE KING, Exhibition and Artist demonstration, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
BLACK HISTORY MUSEUM GALA OPENING WEEKEND, Artist demonstration by S. Ross Browne, Black History Museum, Richmond, VA
CaFA CARIBBEAN FINE ARTS FAIR, Divi Southwinds Resort, Christchurch, Barbados
CONSUMPTION: FOOD AS PARADOX, Curated by Aden Weisel Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD

2015
POWER PROTEST & RESISTANCE: THE ART OF REVOLUTION, Rush Gallery, New York, NY
MY BIG BLACK AMERICA, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
CaFA CARIBBEAN FINE ARTS FAIR, Divi Southwinds Resort, Christchurch, Barbados

2014
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE ARTISAN, Curated by Andre Guichard and Danny Simmons Anacostia Fine Arts Center, Washington, DC
THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF NTOZAKE SHANGE’S FOR COLORED GIRLS… “I found God in myself”, Curated by Souleo, La Maison d’Art, New York, NY
TOM JOYNER FANTASTIC VOYAGE, Curated by Gallery Guichard, Carnival Conquest, Caribbean Ocean

2013
EXPLORATIONS, International Visions Gallery, Washington, DC
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE ARTISAN SERIES, Curated by Andre Guichard, International Visions Gallery, Washington, DC
FUNK JAZZ KAFE, The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
FROM DEF JAM TO MOTOWN, Strivers Gardens Gallery, New York, NY
AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN ART: JAZZ, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA

2012
REFLECTIONS OF MONK, INSPIRED IMAGES OF MUSIC AND MOODS, Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York, NY
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE ARTISAN SERIES JURIED EXHIBITION, International Visions Gallery, Washington, DC
THE ARTISAN CAFÉ, Curated by Melody Short and Adrienne Cole, Plant Zero Arts Center, Richmond, VA

2011
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE EXHIBITION, ART BASEL MIAMI, The Scope, Miami, FL
BATTTLE OF THE CANVAS, Trust, Philadelphia, PA.
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE ARTISAN SERIES EXHIBITION, International Visions Gallery, Washington, DC
FREEDOM CLASSIC, Painting Demonstration, Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA

2010
CATALYST: 35 Years of Washington Project for the Arts, American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC, Curated by J. W. Mahoney

Select Commissions

2013
Saint Francis Home, “Jacob’s Ladder Mural”, Richmond, VA

2011
Daily Planet, “Vista Mural”, Richmond, VA

2003
City of Richmond, “African Burial Ground Painting”, “Slave Trail Logo”, Richmond, VA

1993
Black History Museum & Cultural Center of VA, “Bojangles Installation”, Richmond, VA

1986
The Miller School of Albemarle, “Samuel Miller Portrait” Charlottesville, VA

Select Collections

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
VCU Health System, Richmond, VA
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, Richmond, VA
The Miller School of Albemarle, Charlottesville, VA

Awards and Honors

2012
Happily Natural Award for Creative Artistry and Visual Aesthetic, 2012

2011
Winner, National Finalist, Rush Philanthropic/Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, 2011

2008
Finalist, 3rd Ward NY, “Art Takes New York” 2008

2007
Personality of the Week, Richmond Free Press, 2007

2006
Best In Show, First Place and People’s Choice Award, National Arts Program Exhibition

2005
Partners in the Arts Grant, Henrico Public Schools, “A Happenin’ at the Hippodrome”

I am compelled to create images that explore compositions of the human form and the juxtaposition of perceptions and misconceptions associated with sensitive socio-political dynamics past and present. My interpretations of historical relevance and possibility permeate the visual dialogue the images inspire.

I am passionate about challenging preconceived notions of the shared human experience and eroding the conventionally assigned racial archetypes. To that end in this series I examine the possible in the perceived introspections and shared history of my subjects in classical pictorial representations using delineations of factual chronicles and imagined mythology. Using portraiture replete with persuasive imagery that defies the common visual library, I make conduit for communication and an instigator of discourse.

As the paintings in this series evolve in iteration I find my impetus is to produce works that challenge the struggles of identity, power and self actualization unique to the experiences of the people of the diaspora, in America and on a global stage. A provocative dichotomy ensues when the artwork itself receives assumptions based merely on the race of the subject making the work a resonant optical cavity infinitely reflecting the human condition.